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How do you cope with restrictions after the op

Posted , 14 users are following.

toto64676
toto64676

Hello Everyone

My op in now a week away after waiting a year.  All the fears are there but other thoughts have cropped up, how do you cope with the restrictions such as not being able to bend over, I have just realised how many times a day we all bend down. I know I will be isolated as I have no family apart from my husband and visits from friends have dwindled since I am unable to go out and socialise.  I would be very interested to hear how you have kept occupied so as not to get lonely or depressed after your op.  I am fortunate to be reasonably happy in my own company but still naturally miss the friendships I had when I good mobility.

Happy Christmas to you all

 

1 like, 48 replies

48 Replies

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  • Rocketman_SG6UK
    Rocketman_SG6UK toto64676

    Posted

    You have to have a long reach grabber - it's essential, as is a long handled shoe horn.

    My wife gave me her old vegetable rack on wheels to store my needs on (pills, appointment cards, TV remote, wet wipes), and I pulled it along with the tail end of the shoe horn.

    We used an office high-back chair in the dining room - it has arms, is adjustable for height, and has wheels - absolutely ideal.

    Stick clips are a good idea for parking your sticksand not dropping them (see picture below).

    A supply of books, and taking part on this forum are great ways to pass some time - daytime TV is terrible most of the time.

    I am 8 weeks post op - and 2 weeks pre revision operation - so will be rejoining you in the recovery restrictions once again in January.

    Best wishes

    Graham 🚀💃

  • gail2910-US-MI
    gail2910-US-MI toto64676

    Posted

    I recommend a large number of grabbers!! I have three upstairs and two downstairs and could use more. Because when you drop one, you need another one to pick it up with. You become very skilled with these-- I picked up a baby aspirin twice with mine! They are $1 at the Dollar Tree here in the states so you can afford a handful. They are not good at picking up heavy things though and you will learn to have those items at waist level or higher. I also have a tray on my walker which is terrific for transporting things. Somedays it feels like a challenge to be solved. Other days, just hard. Good luck to you.

     

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK gail2910-US-MI

      Posted

      If they were that cheap, definitely recommend getting a few - sadly not so cheap here in UK, but you will need one (or more).
  • ginger54698
    ginger54698 toto64676

    Posted

    There are many items you will need to purchase such as a raised toilet seat- a grabber to help you pick things up- shower seat to help with showering etc. You will also need comfy easy- on clothing and lots of books and movies to keep you company. I am a very active social person so being stuck at home for 6 weeks was brutal but I got through it. My friends were great to come whenever I needed them- don't be afraid to ask for help and visitors!
  • alan23497
    alan23497 toto64676

    Posted

    One of the things that suprised me, was how usefull the golfers pick up was you can stretch your operated leg out behind you, bend your knee on the non operated leg and pick up objects from the floor. Grabbers are invaluable and planning to keep things you need often within easy reach.

    I found in the early days keeping things like drinks, meds and the like accessable to my bed as they were always just out of reach or line of sight due to being propped up with pillows. When your fully active they seem easy to get too, but after the op in the first week they need to be close to hand.

    The best thing about the forum is that with such an international bunch of contributers there's always someone to ask or talk to 24 hours a day.

    Happy Christmas and good luck.

    Alan

  • sarah1996
    sarah1996 toto64676

    Posted

    This is one of ny major concerns like how do i make my own food/drinks cause you cant use your hands, get dressed, wash and so on. Im so worried about the restrictions but goodluck
    • alan23497
      alan23497 sarah1996

      Posted

      Hi Sarah

      You can use your hands, best to get some frozen meals made up before on not too low shelf in a freezer. Cuppa soups & pot noodles can be a help in the first week when your less mobile. Get a perching stool & toilet riser from your NHS or local Red Cross and you can wash at your sink. It's all possible to do, it just seems odd until you have to cope and then you find you can. In a few weeks you're so much more mobile, showering, cooking & back to normal. Best of all you don't have the pain that restricted your life.

      Good luck & happy Christmas

      Alan

    • sarah1996
      sarah1996 alan23497

      Posted

      I meant like obvs you cant use your hands when you need to use both crutches. My thr is going to be very different to normal so i think my recovery will be harder but i suppose my parents will just have to run around after me but i dont knkw what ill do when there at work all day

      Merry christmas to you too

  • alice85142
    alice85142 toto64676

    Posted

    Toto,  I know exactly how you feel and your concerns,  I was just the same.I live on my own so was even more worried.  You learn very quickly to cope and achieve what you would imagine now is impossible.  I couldn't bend to put ( obviously!) food into oven or washing in washing machine or get stuff out of fridge..but your husband must help you.  I managed by asking any visitors to do these things tho didn't even bother with the oven for 6 weeks..micro wave!.  You learn to be inventive with the long handled grabbers..I found feeding the cats frustrating and often ended up in tears of frustration at all the spillage and bowls turning themselves upside down.  I dropped eggs and hey are impossible to deal with even when mobile!  This forum will offer you words of support and tricks to manage. You will suddenly do something and be elated..I have just managed to cut my toenails and paint them which was a huge achievemen..I am 3 1/2 montsh post op and some on here cut their toe nails much earler..I had to keep telling myself we are all different and mend in different time scales.

    Good good luck with the op and let us hippies know how you get on. If miserable someone will always be here to cheer you up.  i could not have managed without the posts on this forum as always felt/feel someone is there to listen and talk.

    Alice

    • alice85142
      alice85142 Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Hi YOU....Is it you who is having to have revision surgery soon??  My heartfelt good wishes to you.  Yes I found out about the cat bowls too late as was able to feed my monsters after 6 weeks.  Useful for anyone else who has animals though.

      ​Alice

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK alice85142

      Posted

      Yep, that's me - revision to correct the ceramic insert positioning on 7th Jan.

      I found that I could pick up our cat's bowl with my grabber, either that or leave him to pester someone else for his food !!!

      Happy Christmas & 2016 🎄⛄️⭐️ 

      Graham 🚀💃

    • alice85142
      alice85142 Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Hello Graham...What exactly went wrong with your hip op?  Scarey thing to happen...will this as big an op?  I so hope not but you have a huge band of hippies to back you up. 

      Hope your day is going well...

      Alice   oooo (hugs)

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK alice85142

      Posted

      The the cup that is screwed into my pelvis is fine, but the ceramic liner that fits inside it is in the wrong place .... slightly wonky ..... The femoral stem is in the right place.

      The risk is that the ceramic will fail and shatter, so it has to be replaced.

      So it's open up the leg again, dislocate it, prise the old one out, and hammer a new one back in at the right angle.

      Then I have the full recovery all over again !

      As you say, at least I have this forum of wonderful hippies for support.

      Hope you have had as good a Christmas as I have. 🎅

      Graham 🚀💃

    • AnnieK
      AnnieK Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      That's so unfortunate, Rocketman54. Wish that hadn't happened to you. 

      May I ask, what were your symptoms that led them to this conclusion? And how did they determine their mistake? Some kind of scan?

      I ask because I still can't walk unaided after 22 weeks, and wonder if this could be the cause. I didn't have cement, but maybe it is growing in wrong.

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK AnnieK

      Posted

      No physical symptoms, it showed up on the x-ray they took on day 1, but did not get reported for 3 weeks - oh, and it is uncemented.

      I can walk over 3 miles OK, with one stick.

      Still have some pains in front of thigh, and limping still at 8 weeks, but not related to the problem.

      Graham - 🚀💃

    • AnnieK
      AnnieK Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Just wow, Graham. Wonder why it took them so long to report it. I can't imagine facing another surgery so soon, and because of their mistake! You sound strong and at peace with it. Best of luck this second time around.

      At 8 weeks I was still so debilitated, still had the fatigue and leg was a mess. I don't ever want to go through that surgery again, although if it means that I can walk right, I am almost at the point where I would agree to it.

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK AnnieK

      Posted

      Annie,

      I am just hoping and praying that nothing goes wrong this time - one messed up surgery is enough for a lifetime.

      I think what happens is that an independant surgeon reviews the Xrays, and when they did that, it was revealed that it wasn't as good as they first thought it was.

      It's amazing that at 8 weeks I still cannot walk without a stick- I was expecting to drop it at 6 weeks and take up driving.  Never mind, I quite enjoy being ferried around for a change, but at times it gets to me - last night I just blurted out "I do hate being a cripple" when I couldn't do the simple job of carrying dishes from the dining room to the kitchen to wash them up.  It makes me even more mindful of how unpleasant life is for those more unfortunate than me who are unable to walk unaided, or those in wheelchairs.

      Graham - 🚀💃

    • renee01952
      renee01952 Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Graham darling, try to not go down that road .... it sucks big time what happened -  

      you have such a great attitude and energy about you, a loving rocketwife and of course, it is darn frustrating and goodness, how much longer will it take melt downs -   

      You are right ...  it is temporary for us ( most of us) - 

      you snapped me out of my "fist shaking at the heavens" mood cheesygrin

      big warm hug

      renee

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK renee01952

      Posted

      Renee,

      Thanks - yes I trust that I will eventually get better, but I had a certain length of time in my mind that I was going to be recovering for, and it was suddenly extended, and it's sort of preying on my mind that I will be totally incapacitated once again in a couple of weeks time.

      So frustrating for me - I am the one that does everything, from piloting our big bike (now sadly history, but at least we did it whilst we were both fit and able), to repairing roofs, unblocking drains, fixing things.  To be unable to bend down even to put my socks on is finally getting to me.

      However strong I am, I'm still going to need the support of this wonderful forum, but this time round I know it's there  smile  24x7

      Graham - 🚀💃

    • alice85142
      alice85142 Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Rocketman,  I am constantly boosted by your positveity in this ghastly situation you find yourself in..You are an example to me.  However i still walk with one crutch tho did give up at  6weeks but was told in no uncertain terms to go back onto one...I also try to remember people who are ill and not just immobile..but sometimes I just give in and have a wobble or three!...I am sending good vibes to you for the 7th..and to your wife who sounds a good lass.

      ​Alice

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK alice85142

      Posted

      Alice, 

      thanks for that.

      I was so pleased with myself, walking 3.5 miles on a country walk last Saturday andSunday, but was told off at Physio not only for going so far, but for not walking upright and without a limp.   Quality, not quantity I was told, so I am back to using the stick in two fingers now, just to steady myself so I can walk 'as if suspended by the top of my head'.

      Yes, my situation is horrible, but there is not much I can do but have it rectified, and then get back on the long road to recovery again.  At least I know the pitfalls, and have absolutely everything prepared for me when I get home after the next operation.

      Graham - 🚀💃

    • rose0000
      rose0000 Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      It is awful dealing with the helpless incapacitating feature of this recovery. One of the worst especially this time of year. I am by nature an easy going gentle kind of gal I am told, but it is has got to me on more than one occasion!! And I feel the frustration bubbling over as I count to a hundred. I keep dropping everything my coordination is shot to pieces! And then it is gone forever in the land of the floor, and the grabber is downstairs and four rooms away and I despair!

      Rocket - at 3 weeks it really is only the first week that is tricky as you will remember, after then you start to feel better, and will be back on the road to recovery better than before, before you know it. The operation will be a distant memory. The surgeon will get this right, and will be so careful with you - and you will be repaired. For good this time.

      This is a temporary blip, be it the most exasperating one, and all of us feel for you in a way that no non hippie ever could. You know what to expect this time, will have everything ready on hand and you know this time you really will be fixed. Perhaps you can think about a holiday to make it up to yourself, and your lovely rocket wife x

    • cathie38426
      cathie38426 Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Hi Graham,

      Talking about walking goals, with my husband with pneumonia

      I don't like to leave him or he panics, so I am walking 30 times

      round the swimming pool, with rhyming songs for each round,

      I never thought when I had my hip done...... It was not one of my goals

      to aim for!

      happy B dayCathie

       

    • AnnieK
      AnnieK Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      Right, one messed-up surgery is more than enough! I have some ideas for you regarding inability to do things. 

      I am 22 weeks and still can't walk unaided, however I was driving at 6 weeks. Wondering why you can't drive? I have an automatic transmission and maybe that's easier. Also, the leg I use for acceleration/braking is my surgical leg. Are you not allowed by your doctor? Do you have pain and weakness that prevents the driving?

      Also, as I said in my reply above, I use a rollator walker (with a seat and basket) inside of my house, so I am able to carry things all over, including dishes to and from the table, placed on the seat. The rollator has enabled me to be wholly independent.

      I feel badly that you still can't deal with socks on your own. Using a sock aid (very cheap) made that possible for me, even at one week post-op. If you haven't been given permission to bend more than the 90 degrees, a sock aid may be helpful. Although perhaps your reason is different.

      Just sharing my solutions during a very long recovery that have made it bearable. I don't have any guarantee that I will ever be able to walk unaided. It's just a big unknown in front of me. So I have figured out ways to do everyting, except carry big laundry bins up and down the stairs - my husband does that for me. If he weren't available, though, I'd just chuck it all down without a basket and bring the clean clothes back up in a backpack.

      At any rate, soon you will be back at square one, and having to build yourself up again. I shudder at the thought! Your positive attitude will serve you well!

       

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK rose0000

      Posted

      Rose,

      Thank you so much for those encouraging words.  

      How right you are, it's the first 3 weeks that are the worst, and I'm all ready for them this time, books, ipod music, jigsaws, exercise sheets, my blog to record my progress, and the most important thing - this forum of wonderful fellow hippies.

      Odd how our coordination goes, mine went too.  As you say, everyone here knows what to expect as no-one who has not gone through the operation and recovery could ever know.

      Best Regards

      Graham 🚀💃

    • Kikeena
      Kikeena Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      This is challenging on so many levels Graham. Especially when you've been strong and active and helping to suddenly become the inactive person who needs help. Grrrrrrrr. And it's for longer than you'd braced yourself for, physically and financially. And then there's the injustice of the whole situation. It's character testing as my mother would say.

      I love your attitude on this site, the way you encourage others with such good humour. It's certainly been one of life's curve balls. I'm scared for my future mobility and struggling to stay away from self pity in the long term. And I find you an inspiration.

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK AnnieK

      Posted

      Annie,

      Driving; I was told by my surgeon that he would not allow driving until I could walk without my stick- it's not the pressure I can put on the pedal, but the time it takes to get the foot up and onto the pedal.  I drive a manual, and it's my clutch leg (left) that is affected.

      I never even considered a rollator, I was on a walker (no wheels) on day one, and have been on stick(s) since day 2.

      Sock aid - I might just get one to give my wife a break - but she still laughs when I say to her "Mummy, can you dress me please?" in a child-like voice.

      As you say, we find ways to get around the problems - I can stand and help prepare food, and do washing up too.

      Thanks, and all the best to you.

      Graham - 🚀💃

    • Rocketman_SG6UK
      Rocketman_SG6UK Kikeena

      Posted

      When I see what others have to put up with, it makes me cry - having THR at 19, living on your own or with a disabled partner, living in remote location with no means of transport, having a second hip replacement, having knee replacements, having pain from other surgeries  ......... so many difficult situations.

      This forum is the best thing to stop me being sorry for myself, and it's great to be able to 'give something back' to help someone else, wherever in the world they are.

      Best wishes to you

      Graham - 🚀💃

    • Kikeena
      Kikeena Rocketman_SG6UK

      Posted

      For me this forum helps me to feel less different. I feel normal here in a way that I don't amongst my very able bodied family and friends. And that helps me stop feeling sorry for myself.
    • sarah1996
      sarah1996 Kikeena

      Posted

      I know exactly what you mean. Being the age i am my friends sometimes forget i cant do what they can and people just dont understand. If you dont have someone to talk to you just get down
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